Electrosonic at the European Parliament Visitor’s Center
London (May 1, 2012) – The Parlamentarium, the new visitors’ centre at the European Parliament in Brussels, uses a variety of interactive multimedia exhibits to take visitors on a unique and personal journey into the heart of European Politics. Electrosonic engineered and installed the main exhibition audio-visual hardware for Stuttgart-based designer ATELIER BRÜCKNER. The Parlamentarium is the first visitors’ centre fully accessible in 23 languages, and to-date has attracted over 120,000 visitors from across the globe.
Guided through state-of-the-art exhibitions by a personal electronic multimedia guide, visitors see how policy decisions are made and how they influence Europeans’ daily lives. All signage and media is presented in 23 languages, which had an enormous influence on how AV techniques were used throughout the centre.
Electrosonic won the bid for the project in an open Europe-wide competitive tender; the
scope of work consisted of the detailed design, supply, installation, set up and commissioning of the media hardware for different themed exhibition areas. These areas include a pair of 360º theatres, nearly 100 LCD panels, (more…)
Electrosonic at NHM Los Angeles
When I was a kid, my elementary school used to take “field trips” to the NHM in Los Angeles, and I looooved the dinosaur and prehistoric section…..so it was nice to see that they’ve revamped the whole thing with the help of Electrosonic:
Los Angeles 18 April, 2012) – Visitors to the Dinosaur Hall in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County experience the wonder of the prehistoric creatures in a totally new way with innovative exhibits featuring audio-visual systems provided by Electrosonic.
Twice the size of the old galleries, the recently-opened 14,000 square-foot Dinosaur Hall displays specimens – including the world’s only T. rex growth series of baby, juvenile and adult skeletons – mounted on unique platforms and preserved and articulated using modern methods. The skylit L-shaped Hall is flooded with natural light; a glass-sided mezzanine runs along the short side of the L where additional wall-mounted exhibits reveal more about the amazing creatures and show what it’s like (more…)
Barco NSL-5521
Barco has announced the NSL-5521, a 55″ full HD LCD with LED backlight. You’ll probably install it in a control room with a bunch more to make a huge wall, but why not stick one in your board room or living room for that matter? As a tiled LCD solution, the NSL-5521 is ideal for personal wall environments and adjunct control rooms in Emergency Operations Centers, traffic management and surveillance centers, C4I-SR environments, utilities and process control centers and broadcast & telecom monitoring applications.
Narrow-bezel display for tiled video walls
The new NSL uses durable LED backlights positioned directly behind the LCD panel and has the (more…)
Mojo Video Tech in a 10 Hour VJ Meltdown
Projection Conniseur Dr. Mojo is co-producing the 10 Hour VJ Meltdown at the Flat Iron Hotel tonight. Looks like it will be a serious bash so get there if you’re in the NYC area!
Multo & Mojo Video Tech Inc
in association with Frère Independent
present a 10 HOUR VJ MELTDOWN
on Friday March 9th from 3pm – 1am
to celebrate the opening of the Pool Art Fair NYC
we will be taking over the entire lobby of the
FLAT IRON HOTEL
26th Street & Broadway
New York NY 10001
featuring live mixes by
Liquid Light Lab * Miixxy * DoctorMojo
Guillaume Clave * Fuzzy Bastard
installations and presentations by
Globalrev Live * VJ Electrabelle * VJ KRUNCH
Francesco Carnesecchi * VJ Albert * Ray-V
plus international artists livestreaming
Ioann – Edinborough * Vlad/Niikky – Spain
music by
DJ JayPhantom * others tba
Vaddio ProductionVIEW Switcher- Review
The following appears in the current issue of PLSN magazine, and I can’t thank them enough for printing it. But here on Projectionfreak you get some extras….
I use a PTZ camera system at work that is a package supplied by Markertek (outstanding prices and service from these folks….highly recommend them!) ….and manufactured by Vaddio…namely a ProductionVIEW switcher, 3 HD19 PTZ cameras with CCU, a Vaddio 3-way monitor, and a Vaddio 2-way HD monitor. The switcher is at the heart of the rig, providing control over the 3 cameras, a fourth PTZ (Sony EVI-D70), computer input, and DVD input. I should say up front that I am not paid by Vaddio or Markertek, nor do they receive advertising credit or endorsement from me or from Projectionfreak.com.……although ANY/ALL of those options and scenarios are open for discussion! Hint hint- as in “call for a rate card” hint….
I happen to use their gear based on price and performance and I couldn’t be happier. It’s great stuff and the image quality is outstanding- but on with the hands-on review:
Vaddio ProductionVIEW HD Switcher
As the ‘video guy’ I get asked to wear a lot of hats and it’s not just because I’m a nice guy that says “yes”. There’s a lot of factors to keep track of- not the least of which is keeping a decent image onscreen. If you’re touring, you’re usually just trying to keep the gear from being destroyed- if you’re in corporate you have the constant harangue of having to edit presenter imagery- if you’re in trade shows, well- that list is too long. Usually this is all on top of being the switcher. If you are the lucky person that owns/rents the gear that makes all that happen, you need equipment that does more than one thing. So it goes (more…)
Planar Mosaic- 1:1 LCD Tiles
I came across a pretty cool product- 1:1 size LCD panels from Planar. A lot of manufacturers have been releasing small, modular tile arrays for digital signage, corporate boardrooms, etc….but these open up the more creative side I think. They have unique mounting hardware that allows them to be lined up or off set, and the power supplies can be rack-mounted away from the displays, making the electrical runs a little more economical. From their website: “Planar Mosaic is the only video wall system that allows designers (more…)
Nuformer Goes 360 at NAIAS
Projection wizards Nuformer are in Detroit for the North American Int’l Auto Show and they’ve designed the content for Ford’s 360 immersive “ride”. The feature is a 360 degree projection which shows off what a Ford vehicle can do for you in the future. Check out the video at about 1:25 and dig the scissor lift rig (remember to keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle!!) I’ll post some details on the projector setup when more info becomes available…nice work Nuformer!
UPDATE:
9 Christie HD projectors were used to create the 360-degree projection;
Mediaserver: Grass Valley Turbo T2iDDR;
Active pixel size: 13436 pixels wide x 864 pixels high
Control That App! SmithsonMartin to the Rescue!
I’ve been playing with a lot of software lately. Mostly video manipulation stuff- I won’t be specific because I may end up reviewing some of it and, quite frankly, friends make the stuff- so I need to be kind. But the one drag that I keep running into is control. Sure I can mouse and click all day. I even use my trusty Apple Magic Pad. But I may be one of the only people on Earth that doesn’t use an i-device. What’s that? You’re a filthy Android user? How dare you try to send and receive MIDI, OSC, or any other protocol for that matter! Certainly you can just make your own interface, seeing as how you’re all…..-ack- open-source….. (more…)
MDP and Thunderbolt
With the use of Mini Displayport exploding and Thunderbolt already unleashed on society, I thought I’d give a little background info-
The Mini DisplayPort (mDP) is a miniaturized version of the DisplayPort digital display interface. Announced by Apple in 2008, today it is used in all new Macs (MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, Xserve), and the LED Cinema Display. It is also used in new PC notebooks from various manufacturers such as Toshiba, HP and Dell. Unlike its Mini-DVI and Micro-DVI predecessors, Mini DisplayPort is capable of driving resolutions up to 2560×1600 (WQXGA), commonly used with 30-inch displays. With a suitable adapter, Mini DisplayPort may be used to drive displays with a VGA, DVI or HDMI interface.
Previously on Projectionfreak, we did an article on Thunderbolt- the hot new I/O technology from Apple and Intel. Thunderbolt has only recently come into the market and by all accounts, it stands to take off as well. Does anyone else find it odd that they called it Thunderbolt as opposed to , oh say….lightning? Doesn’t thunder usually follow lightning? Whatever the legal folks had to do with it- Thunderbolt is here (more…)
Spotlight 2011
Tonight is Spotlight 2011, the annual fundraiser for the Indiana AIDS Fund. Every year, professional performers from all over Central Indiana come together for one reason – to raise money for HIV/AIDS education, prevention and testing programs across Indiana. They stand in the spotlight in order to keep the spotlight shining on HIV in Indiana.
It’s held at Clowes Memorial Hall on the campus of Butler University and all the performers and technicians (IATSE Local #30) generously donate their time to make it happen. Projection will include super titles and fundraiser totals over the stage on a 3′ x 24′ super title screen as well as various video playbacks onstage. We’re using 2 Panasonic PT-D5600′s, A Macpro tower, and a Macbook for playback. If yu’d like to make a donation to Spotlight 2011 click HERE
LCD Screen Pr0n Overload
This place is for real. Sharp has announced that it has developed a gigantic 156 Multi-screen setup composed of 60” PN-V601 LCD arranged as followed with 36 monitors on the wall, celling and floor as well as 24 monitors on both the right and left wall in order to provide with the best immersive video experience ever during the 5D Miracle Tour at the Hui Ten Bosch Theme Park in Nagasaki. I can’t wait to see what controls it all…….
Tools, Tips, and Tricks of the Trade- LCD Misconceptions Explained
If you’re in the business of projecting or displaying media for a living, you know the importance of calibrating your gear correctly. Many times you’ll run into displays not reacting quite as they should or having to explain to a client why something looks the way it does. Dr. Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate breaks down misinformation about displays,and specs. Never be fooled by LCD refresh rates, frame rates, or interlacing again! Check out these GREAT articles on response time and motion blur and also artifacts and image quality. All projection freaks need to know this stuff so read up! There will be a test and quiz later………
Let me state that this is NOT a paid plug….(although it would be nice) but be sure to check out all their display calibration software- indispensable!
Christie Spyder X20 in the Architainment World
We posted a while back on the Spyder and it’s related products, and here’s a great example of the system in action. Talk about LCD wall. I like that the URS Universal Routing Switcher was used in conjunction, although I don’t see how you could NOT use a routing switcher in this application. After reading the article, I really wanted to know how they were doing the “live feed” from two HD cameras. Anyone know? Also, having spent most of my childhood at Huntington Beach, I got a little homesick…..
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